Last weekend was the 35th Annual Vent Haven Ventriloquist ConVention held in Fort Mitchell Kentucky. Yes, I did say Kentucky. Fort Mitchell is the home of the Worlds biggest and best collection of Ventriloquiana. Founded by William Shakespear Burger and now maintained by a board of advisors it continues to provide a wonderful history of our art of Ventriloquism.
Tamara and I were able to attend and enjoy the festivities along with..get this..536 total in attendance. This was a record for attendance and the reason is simple..The theme of the ConVention was 70 years of entertainment by non other then Jimmy Nelson. As mentioned in the previous post Jimmy Nelson is responsible for many ventriloquists of today getting into vent.
As I have mentioned, the focus of this years event was a celebration of Jimmy Nelsons 70 years in entertainment and it was titled "70 Years of laughter". Unlike other years where the focus is tips and techniques to improve as a vent the focus this time was all about Jimmy. Of course there were lectures and shows as always but the primary theme was Jimmy and Betty Nelson. Tom Ladshaw put together a video presentation called "70 minutes of laughter" as a highlight reel and it was fantastic to watch! Along with that there were a boatload of great items given to registrants who joined in to celebrate. There was a shoulder bag, a 4 pinback set depicting Danny O'Day, Farfal, Humphrey Higsby, and Fatatateta, a huge book with a biography of Jimmy as well as a treasure trove of photographs, a poster(not shown in photo as it is safely rolled and stored awaiting framing in the coming week. All of these things were organized and Coordinated by Tom Ladshaw who deserves tremendous kudos for all his hard work and effort.
In upcoming posts over the week I will share the highlights of the cenvention from my perspective along with additional photos taken at the event.
Stay tuned....
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